Pioneer Receivers - Warranty Option??

[skipsterut]

I was thinking of buying the Pioneer Elite VSX-72THX receiver online from etronics.com for $889 + $36 S&H = $925 delivered -- not all bad for this super unit which is listed at $1400. BUT until I got another post from jaxvon (HT jax) I didn't know about Pioneer's stringent policy regarding purchase from an authorized dealer required to get warranty service. Although I have been lucky and NEVER had anything go wrong with any electronic gear I have bought, this does make me pause.

But etronics.com offers a Philips Priority Service Plan for $50 (2 years -- or $80 for 5 years) so the 2 year "optional warranty" from Philips would put the delivered cost at $975 vs buying from a local dealer for $1,280 (inlcuding tax). So this is > $300 savings which is pretty tempting, but I thought I would get some input from the group on this kind of deal and especially any experience with the Philips Priority Service Plan. Coming from a name brand company like Philips I figure is should be OK, but would appreciate any feedback.

Also -- has anyone had experience dealing with etronics.com? Their prices are the best I have seen.

BTW -- As an optional online source I checked with Vann's and they are not authorized for the Elite series.

 

[Ldog]

Thanks for pointing that out.... After looking at the pioneer website and reading about the warranty, I decided to look at Yamaha's warranty policy. Its the same. They don't want to offer a warranty to the stores thats selling their product at discounted prices. I was going to check out some receivers this week end and then order the one I liked off line, but thats not going to happen now....Its hard trying to buy on a budget

 

[dponeill]

The first thing that you want to consider is how many items have you have purchased where you actually used the warranty? Warranties are a marketing tool. I would guess that at least 98% of receivers from reputable manufacturers function properly for years after their warrany period ends without ever needing repairs. In the 30 plus years that I have been involved with A/V equipment as a hobby, I have purchased dozens of components (at last count I have had 11 televisions, 11 receivers, 7 DVD players, 23 VCRs, etc.) and I have had to have warranty work done 2 times. One was a Sony VCR about 10 years ago and the other was the amp in a Infinity speaker this year. I purchased an extended warranty once and the VCR that it was purchased for required repair 5 years after the extended warranty expired and cost less to fix than I had paid for the warranty. If I had made all of these purchases based of warranty considerations, or had purchased extended warranties, I would have spent thousands of extra dollars with nothing to show for it.

Just something to think about.